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Lumped parameter model
A lumped parameter model represents a spatially distributed physical system by a finite network of discrete elements, so thermal, fluid, electrical, and mechanical behavior is analyzed with ordinary differential equations.
Lumped Raman amplifier
A lumped Raman amplifier (LRA) is a discrete optical amplifier in which a dedicated internal gain fiber provides Raman amplification, unlike the distributed type that uses the transmission fiber itself.
Lumut SEV power station
The Lumut SEV power station is a 1,303 MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle plant at Segari, near Lumut in Perak, Malaysia, operating since 1996 and owned by Malakoff Corporation.
Lun-class ekranoplan
The Lun-class ekranoplan was a Soviet missile-carrying ground-effect vehicle that flew above the Caspian Sea; the sole craft entered service in 1990 and was withdrawn in 1991.
Luna 1
Luna 1 was a Soviet lunar probe launched on 2 January 1959, intended to impact the Moon; it flew past instead and became the first spacecraft to enter orbit around the Sun.
Luna 16
Luna 16 was a Soviet robotic probe that in 1970 became the first spacecraft to automatically return lunar soil to Earth, landing in Mare Fecunditatis and delivering 101 grams.
Luna 2
Luna 2, also known as Lunik II, was a Soviet probe that became the first human-made object to reach the Moon, impacting it in 1959.
Luna 20
Luna 20 was a Soviet uncrewed lunar sample return mission launched in February 1972 that drilled soil from the lunar highlands and returned it to Earth.
Luna 24
Luna 24 was a Soviet robotic spacecraft that drilled a core sample from Mare Crisium on the Moon and returned it to Earth in August 1976, the last Soviet lunar mission.
Luna 25
Luna 25 (Луна-25), originally Luna-Glob, was a Russian robotic lunar lander launched in August 2023, Russia's first lunar mission since 1976, which crashed on the Moon.
Luna 27
Luna 27 (Луна-27) is a planned Russian lunar lander mission that will drill into the Moon's south polar regolith to study water ice, launching in 2029 and 2030.
Luna 28
Luna 28, also known as Luna-Grunt, is a planned Russian lunar sample return mission to collect polar regolith and water ice and return it to Earth.
Luna Innovations
Luna Innovations is an American fiber-optic technology company in Blacksburg, Virginia, founded in 1990 by Kent Murphy, known for distributed sensing systems that turn optical fiber into thousands of measurement points.
Lunan-Korla Parallel Oil Pipeline
The Lunan-Korla Parallel Oil Pipeline (轮库复线) is a 161.5 km crude oil pipeline in Xinjiang, China, commissioned in 1996 to replace the original 1992 Lunnan-Korla line.
LunaNet
LunaNet is a NASA-led framework of agreed standards and protocols for interoperable communications and navigation around the Moon, run as an internet-like network of commercial, government, and international providers.
Lunar Cruiser
Lunar Cruiser (ルナクルーザー) is the nickname of a crewed pressurized lunar rover developed by JAXA and Toyota since 2019, letting astronauts ride without spacesuits on NASA's Artemis missions.
Lunar Flag Assembly
The Lunar Flag Assembly (LFA) is the telescoping pole and crossbar device that let Apollo astronauts plant a US flag on the airless Moon, 1969 to 1972.
Lunar Gateway
Lunar Gateway, also called the Lunar Orbital Platform, was a planned modular space station in lunar orbit under NASA's Artemis program, sidelined in 2026 in favor of a Moon base.
Lunar Lake
Lunar Lake is the code name for Intel's Core Ultra 200V mobile processors for thin-and-light laptops, launched in September 2024 with a focus on power efficiency.
Lunar Landing Research Vehicle
The Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV), or Lunar Landing Test Vehicle, was a NASA aircraft built by Bell Aerosystems that simulated Moon landings on Earth, training Apollo astronauts from 1964.
Lunar orbit
A lunar orbit, also called a selenocentric orbit, is the path of a spacecraft around the Moon, first achieved by the Soviet Luna 10 in 1966.
Lunar Polar Exploration Mission
The Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX) is a joint ISRO and JAXA robotic mission to prospect for water ice at the lunar south pole, targeted for 2028.
Lunar Prospector
Lunar Prospector was a NASA Discovery Program orbiter that circled the Moon from 1998 to 1999, mapping its surface composition, gravity, and magnetic fields and searching for polar water ice.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is a NASA robotic spacecraft, managed from Goddard Space Flight Center, that has orbited the Moon since June 2009 and is the longest-lived lunar mission ever flown.
Lunar rover
A lunar rover, or Moon rover, is a motorized vehicle for traveling across the Moon's surface. The Soviet Lunokhod 1 was first in 1970, followed by Apollo's crewed rovers in 1971.
Lunar Roving Vehicle
The Lunar Roving Vehicle, known as the Moon buggy, was a battery-powered, four-wheeled rover driven on the Moon during the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions in 1971 and 1972.
Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium
The Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium is a NASA-funded collaboration established in 2020 and operated by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory to develop technologies for a sustained presence on the Moon.
Lunar Terrain Vehicle
The Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) is an unpressurized rover NASA is procuring from commercial providers to carry suited Artemis astronauts across the lunar south polar region.
Lunar Trailblazer
Lunar Trailblazer was a NASA small satellite mission to map the form and distribution of water on the Moon, launched February 26, 2025, but lost contact the next day.
Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope
The Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT), also called the Moon-based Ultraviolet Telescope, is a 15-centimeter near-ultraviolet telescope carried by China's Chang'e-3 lander, which began observing near Sinus Iridum in 2013.